Monday Bolts – 3.8.10

Jay Mariotti with a tremendous (yes, Jay Mariotti and tremendous) piece on Kevin Durant: “It’s important to the NBA, and for sports, that Durant play in May. It would be his first entry not only into the postseason but into a visible role as the game’s next true ambassador. With another foray into the 30s, he’ll break Spencer Haywood’s franchise record for most 30-point games in a season. Many players his age wouldn’t be aware of Haywood, who blazed a path for college underclassmen to enter the NBA early with a landmark Supreme Court victory in 1971. Durant, who fled to the NBA after only one season at Texas, is well aware.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Brooks made it a point to compliment his bench play tonight. And the unit was pretty good. Ibaka had 11 points and five boards. James Harden had 14 points, two rebounds and two steals. Eric Maynor filled in nicely for Westbrook when Westbrook missed nine minutes in the third quarter and had four points and four assists. And Collison was huge defensively tonight with six boards and a blocked shot to go with four points and a lot bumping and battling down low.”

Mayberry also looks at OKC dealing with the new attention: “The Oklahoma City Thunder has arrived on the NBA map, garnering attention and acclaim unlike anything the franchise has experienced since relocating from Seattle nearly two years ago. Evolving into the talk of the league is an honor, a testament to the Thunder’s thrilling turnaround. But with increased publicity comes perhaps the Thunder’s greatest challenge yet. Dealing with it.”

Kelly Dwyer put out his award watch this Friday and had Nick Collison second for Defensive Player of the Year: “Don’t trip. If you’ve watched the games, you’ll know. He’s not swatting shots away by the dozen, and he’s not hoarding boards at a Howard-style rate, but Collison moves his feet and contests like you wouldn’t believe. Over a hundred possessions, the Thunder are almost 7 1/2 points better with him on the floor defensively than off, and while he might strike you as an unassuming figure, I beg you to watch him play before deriding his inclusion here. The man also leads the NBA in charges taken, despite sometimes acting as the second or third guy off OKC’s bench. Joke about flopping all you want, but when you block a shot, you might not get the ball as a result. When you draw a charge, the ball is yours. The Thunder are the third-best defensive team in the league, and it ain’t because of Durant, and it’s certainly not because of Nenad Krstic.”

Russ gets a Lion Face: “Westbrook got inadvertently hit in the eye by Carl Landry. It split Westbrook open and he had to get stitches in the game to close the wound. He came back right before the end of the third quarter to try to make sure his team didn’t blow a road win they could definitely use. He seemingly had enough of the rough play and Thunder miscues. So he went to the basket. Over and over again. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Thunder to victory and finished with a stat line of 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five stitches. From now on, instead of making note of all the times Westbrook drives to the basket, we should make note of all the times he gets stopped driving to the basket. It will be a much shorter list for us to keep.”

Behind the Box Score: “Andres Nocioni. You hate playing against him, but you’d love … well, a lot of times you don’t love him as a teammate. Most of the time, actually. I’ve seen him do it time and time again. He either leaves his man for an open three, takes a terrible shot just seconds after coming off the bench, or uses that aggression in nastier ways. Like the flagrant foul that kicked the Thunder in the tail and turned the tide. Russell Westbrook had 14 fourth quarter points, and the Thunder just looked longer, all game. Just a longer, better team, though the Kings are to be applauded for hanging in there as long as they did.”

@GAPI really liked the interview, too, and especially the answer to the "OKC? Really?" question. Recently, for some reason, there have been a lot of interviews and articles with KD about whether he would sign a max contract, would he be angry if he wasn't offered one, etc. and he's always said that he likes playing for OKC but usually with something like "I know it's a business" thrown in, which always makes me nervous. Here Durant had an opportunity, as he's had before like in ESPN's NEXT article, to say that he simply loves being in OKC. We're not flashy like LA, NYC, or Chicago, but KD likes our city and wants to help build it up, which makes me feel good about the future.

As much of a douchebag as John Mayer has been in interviews of late ("My penis is a white supremacist," etc.) I'm not overly excited to see him in a Thunder jersey. Still, it's a lot better than seeing it on Lindsay Lohan or an actual white supremacist.

@Boots All of his always do, There was one, I forget who, maybe Paul Pierce, or a coach, where their legs were actually under each other's chairs. Its probably one of the most fascinating, awkward subplots of the season.

While I really like what Collison brings, I don't like using on-off court number for him. He's playing behind Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic, two guys who aren't good individual defenders. Before them, he played on a team that rarely even tried on the defensive end, so being the only one made his numbers there look great.

He is an incredibly intelligent defender, and I hope big time that we keep him in a backup role (for less money) when his contract runs out. However, I think his numbers are more an indictment of Green/Krstic/Sonics' system than DPOY conversation starters.

Collison deserves every bit of defensive notoriety he can garner. He's been that guy for years. When Rambis was with the Lakers he did a All-Rambis team, much like the All Madden team. For the players with real lunchpail work ethic that are tough and get it done. Collison was Western Conference first team.